The invention relates to a golf swing training apparatus and more particularly to a device specifically adapted to promote and encourage proper movement of a golfer during the course of a series of practice swings (with or without a ball) to aid the golfer in developing a desired golf swing.
Over the years, a number of patents have been issued directed to apparatus to train golfers in the "perfect" swing. These devices have functioned in various ways to guide or control a portion or all of the golfer's body during a series of practice swings. Since the nature of the desired swing has varied from device to device, the prior art devices have acted in a number of different ways to produce substantially different swings in a golfer. These prior art devices have emphasized upper body, head, shoulder and arm movement while either ignoring or severely limiting the golfer's hip movement.
For example, C. D. Remington U.S. Pat. No. 1,530,519, which issued on Mar. 24, 1925, shows a typical golf training apparatus which is designed to prevent any vertical or upward motion during a golf swing. The golfer is forced to pivot his body, including his hips, around a rigid axis. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,611,610, issued to J. R. O'Hara on Sept. 23, 1952, shows an apparatus which holds the shoulders, hips and feet in position during the golf swing. The mechanism does not encourage lateral motion in the hips and corresponding movement of the shoulders, but rather, through hip engaging pads, limits lateral movement of the hips.
G. M. T. Jenks U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,626,151 and 2,737,432, which issued on Jan. 20, 1953 and Mar. 6, 1956, respectively, show a golf training apparatus which coordinates the body movements during a swing. While these patents recognize that hip motion during a swing should have some lateral component, the mechanisms of the patents severely restrict any such motion. Like other prior art, the hip motion of the golfer in this device is still essentially restricted to rotation about the central axis of the device.
J. R. O'Hara U.S. Pat. No. 2,755,091, which issued on July 17, 1956, shows a device to teach body movement during a golf stroke where the golfer's hips are confined to a rotary motion about a single axis. Similarly, R. Abel, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,571, which issued on Feb. 25, 1969, discloses a motor driven swing training device in which a hip harness rotates about a single axis without allowing or promoting lateral action. S. E. Sheldon et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,438, which issued on Nov. 2, 1965, discloses a hip training device for golfers where a warning signal is given when there is a departure from rotation of the hips about a single axis. Anselmo et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,909, which issued on June 10, 1986, also discloses a golf training aid having a number of belts which force a golfer into a particular swing. The teachings of this patent do not promote lateral motion of the hips.